


Africa

by MamaBear7319



Series: The Happier, Friendlier Timeline (2014) [21]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 07:01:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27169699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MamaBear7319/pseuds/MamaBear7319
Summary: Peter and MJ head to Africa after the events at Rikers to kickoff the SI and Wakanda Joint project.  When the rest of the team joins them, the boys might as well take down some bad guys while they’re there.
Series: The Happier, Friendlier Timeline (2014) [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934734
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

"Peter!" MJ watched Peter scale the side of the building they were constructing. She had seen him crawl across a wall multiple times in his various spider suits but it was disconcerting when he had jeans and T-shirt on.

"MJ, even if they saw me, who are they going to tell?" Peter swung a leg over the top of the wall and sat down. Using his web-shooters, he latched onto a bag of tools and pulled them up. "It's the benefit of being miles away from civilization." He took a hammer out of the bag and started working on the bracing for the roof. "Plus, they don't care that I'm Spider-Man."

MJ shook her head. "At this point they think that you're some kind of construction genius. They don't quite understand how you're getting all of this done when it's just the two of us."

Peter looked down at her and grinned. "I am a genius."

MJ threw a rag at him. "That's not what I mean. You put the header beam into place by yourself. When they build a building it takes all the men in the village."

"That's why we're in this particular village. Most of the men have gone off with the warlords in this region." Peter looked out over the vista in front of them. It was vastly different from what he was used to. When they'd go into different countries on missions he never really had a chance to take everything in. Early on, curiosity always got the better of him and he couldn't help but to be distracted by new sights, now, from the point the wheels of the Quinjet touched down his focus was 100% on the mission at hand. Without someone immediately trying to kill him, he had time to actually take in his surroundings. He was still on a mission, it was just wholly different than what he was used to and he found that he was really enjoying himself. He glanced back down at MJ and smiled. The fact that they were here together made it even better.

MJ squinted up at him. "When does everyone else get here?"

Peter sighed and went back to working on the bracing. "Tomorrow." He looked at the building. "Think I can get the roof on before they get here?"

MJ shook her head and went back to putting the waterproofing on what would be the door. "Probably. Are you surprised T'Challa let us stay out here by ourselves?"

Peter scooted down the top of the wall to continue installing the bracings. He only had a few more to put on before he could start on the actual roof. "They can get a clear signal from both of our watches and I think the War Dogs are closer than either of us think. I also think T'Challa understands." Decompression was exactly what Peter needed. After everything with Zeke finally ended, he realized exactly how stressed he had been. Within a week of getting a clean bill of health from Dr. Cho he and MJ had headed to Wakanda. Spending time in the capital city had been great but once Peter had gone out to one of the villages they had targeted for the joint initiative he hadn't wanted to leave. He was just thankful MJ was ok with the idea. It wasn't something he could do long term but it was nice for the couple days they had been out here. Plus, it meant he got a lot accomplished. Building a school wasn't that different than anything else he had ever built. It just didn't have a lot of tech in it. In fact there was no tech at all. And no power. Turns out super strength comes in handy when you're manually cutting wood.

MJ looked down at her watch. "Hey, it's almost noon. My guess is they'll bring us lunch soon." The last three days had followed an identical pattern. Some of the villagers would bring them food around noon and the kids would spend the rest of the day helping. It was kind of like Morgan helping Tony and Peter in the lab, which meant nothing got done. The first day it happened, Peter was frustrated that he couldn't actually do any work. That is until MJ reminded him that they were building the school for the kids...the same kids that wanted to 'help'. So, the next day they planned ahead and strategically left things for the kids to help with. Today's activity was "painting" the classrooms. Really, MJ was going to help them do hand prints on the walls. The fact that the roof wasn't on yet didn't mean a whole lot since the environment was so arid. MJ watched Peter lower the tool bag to the ground with a web and flip off the ledge landing in front of her.

His timing was perfect because as soon as he hit the ground he could hear them coming. He estimated they'd be walking around the bend in the road in about two minutes. Just because they were miles from civilization didn't mean they were completely without resources. Peter walked into the tent that T'Challa had given them. It wasn't your standard tent. It was a Wakandan tent that very much reminded Peter of either the Tardis or Mary Poppins' bag...the inside was way different than its outside appearance. He finished washing up and walked outside in time to see the kids running around the bend in the road.

The afternoon project actually went great. MJ had them involved enough that he could finish up the bracings and get the support beams in place. MJ had gotten fairly proficient at distracting the kids while he did something he shouldn't be able to do. He was getting careless though, there were more than a couple times when he knew some of the younger kids had seen him lift something he shouldn't be able to. But, like he had told MJ, who were they going to tell.

The sun started dropping in the sky, which meant that the kids started making their way back to their village. It wasn't too far away but it was far enough that Peter and MJ could enjoy the silence. It was part of what was helping Peter decompress. Ever since the accident in high school he had been very much aware of the fact that sometimes even a little stimuli was too much. They had gotten creative over the years. He had gone out to Clint's farm one other time after a bad mission. The lake house helped. It was almost as quiet as it was here. There were just different animal noises which he found fascinating. Of course it helped that he was fairly confident that between the tent T'Challa had given them to use and his own abilities he could keep them both safe from what ever was roaming around at night.

MJ walked out of the tent and walked over to where Peter was standing. "So what's going on in your head?"

Peter glanced over at her and shrugged. "It's just nice to be able to decompress."

"That's not what I'm talking about. You've never been overly great at keeping secrets but it's almost like you want the kids to know what you can do." MJ studied the expressions flickering across Peter's face. "Are you testing the waters?"

Peter kept his eyes on the sunset. "Would it be so bad if I am?" He turned to look fully at her, trying to judge her reaction.

MJ smiled and grabbed his hand, pulling him over to the rock they had spent the last couple nights leaning against as the watched the stars. "It's a constant shock every morning when I turn the news on and another day has gone by where you haven't been outed. But it's a lot to think through." Sinking down, she pulled him down next to her. "Have you talked to your dad about it?"

Peter shook his head. "No. It really hasn't been this strong of an idea until this week. Maybe once we're back in New York I'll go back to wanting to keep it secret. Maybe this is just part of decompressing." He settled back against the rock. "Plus there's Miles to think about. He's got another couple years of high school. If it's out that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, how does that affect him."

MJ crossed her legs and turned to look at Peter instead of the twilight sky. "It's a toss up. It either completely insulates him or it puts him in more danger. I'm not sure there's an in between."

Peter looked over at MJ. He was extraordinarily grateful she was in the boxes. "So what do you think. You do get a vote. I'm fact, I'm pretty sure your vote will probably outweigh mine."

MJ laughed. "I'm ok either way. But I don't want to be caught off guard so you can't do what Tony did and announce it without telling anyone what you're doing."

Peter laughed, "You'll have a heads up." He glanced up as stars started appearing in the darkening sky. He let out a sigh as more and more stars appeared in the night sky. This was some thing else he didn't have in New York, or Boston for that matter. You could see a decent amount of stars at the Lake House but nothing like this.

MJ smirked at the look on Peter's face. At the end of the day he was a complete science geek and she loved it. Most people enjoyed looking at stars, Peter was in awe of it. "Would you want to go up there?"

Peter tore his eyes away from the sky. "In space? In a heartbeat." He shrugged, "Other timeline me did." They had tried to figure out where exactly Titan was but Dr. Strange couldn't give them enough details.

"Other timeline you died up there." MJ frowned. That was one of the boxes she hadn't enjoyed being in, but she was still glad she had been allowed into it.

Peter smirked, "I'm pretty sure I would have died on Earth too. I don't think it was just because I was on another planet."

MJ scooted closer to a Peter and shifted until she was leaning against him. She pulled his arm around her, intertwining her fingers with his. "Let's try not to die in either place."

"Agreed." Peter sighed again. This was probably his favorite part of the last couple nights.

xxxxxxxxxx

Peter woke up with his Spidey sense fully ramped up. His hand immediately reached next to him. Once reassured that MJ was fine and asleep next to him, he swung his legs off the bed, slipped his jeans back on, and pulled on his boots. Tying the laces he focused on the sounds he could hear. He felt MJ stir next to him. Reaching back he put his hand on her and felt her immediately tense. He glanced back. "Stay in the tent." He slid his hand down to her wrist. "Use the panic button if you need to." Rising, he walked towards the door and slid the flap to the side to peer out.


	2. Chapter 2

Peter slipped out of the tent and passed his hand over a small camouflaged pad by the tent door. If you didn't know it was there you would have missed it. The device acted as a lock of sorts and effectively made it so no animal or human could enter the tent. Wakandan technology was awesome. Peter stayed in the shadows and listened to the group that was approaching. If he had to guess it was five or six men. The number he could handle. He was more worried about their intent.

One of the things discussed at length was the fact that the regional warlords weren't going to like what SI and Wakanda were doing. The warlords power came from the fact that most of the villages were out of options. Bad weather meant that whatever sources of trade died up. It didn't matter if a village relied on agriculture or livestock, all it took was one bad season. The warlords seized the opportunity to increase their ranks by grabbing what they could, be it able bodied men or the women and children. Human trafficking of the women and children, while hard to battle, was easy to confront. Most governments allowed intervention by just about anyone...the UN, various other agencies, Wakanda, and even the Avengers. Peter knew Nat had run multiple ops targeting human traffic rings, some on the books, others not so much. What Wakanda and SI were doing was a little more strategic.

Trying to combat failing economies in small corners of Africa that were barely a blip on anyone's radar was hard. You couldn't just write a check and solve the problem. Many of the villages in question were steeped in tradition. Wakanda had mastered the art of not sacrificing tradition with the advent of technology. The initiative wasn't trying to replicate Wakanda, it was trying to provide schools, clean water, and even some options for trade. All without sacrificing tradition. Creating a synthesis of the old ways with the promise of a future. And the warlords were mad.

Peter walked over to the edge of the partially constructed school building. From there he had a completely clear view of the road. He leaned against it and crossed his arms, web shooters formed on both wrists, and waited. The men rounded the corner and stopped when they saw Peter. The moon was still high enough to cast a pale light. "It's a little late for stroll, isn't it?" The fact that there were six automatic weapons aimed in his direction wasn't lost on him.

Peter saw one of the men's finger twitch against the trigger of his gun. Removing the weapons from the equation was his top priority. Flinging webs he snagged two of the guns and pulled them, sending them flying over his head. Flipping up he knew the next volley of webs had grabbed two more. It was the final two that was the problem. Flinging web grenades he wrapped up the closest two. Unfortunately they happened to be two without weapons. He slid to the side as he felt bullets fly over his shoulder. Rolling to his back he shot a taser web at one of the guys still armed, knocking him to the ground. Flipping backwards he landed in a crouch and checked down on his targets. Two were secured by web grenades, one was unconscious from the taser web. That left the one with the gun and the two he had disarmed.

Firing a web grenade in one direction and a taser web in another he flipped up and over the man with the gun and fired another series of web grenades directly down. He landed behind him and fired another grenade over his head. He instinctively knew he had hit his target. He ducked into a roll and flung another series of web grenades, letting momentum carry him forwards. Landing on his back he looked around at the six men, satisfied that they were all contained. Then his eyes landed on a vibranium spear hitting the ground in front of him. Following the spear to the face of the person holding it, Peter looked up at Okoye. "You've been there the whole time?" He received a nod in response. "You could have helped."

Okoye reached her hand down to pull Peter up. "You had it under control. Plus, you seemed to be having fun."

Peter looked around and saw that the six men were being gathered together by other Wakandans. Okoye seemed to be the only Dora Milaje present. Peter looked back at her. "Why are you here?"

Okoye shrugged, "T'Challa wanted someone who would be able to discern if you actually needed help. It was important to him that you and MJ remain as undisturbed as possible. Nakia is the only other person he would trust with this and she was unavailable."

Peter frowned and walked over to the tent. Waiving his palm across the pad he pushed the flap aside to find MJ standing behind it with her arms crossed. He knew she hated being locked in but he also knew once she calmed down she'd be fine. He knew she knew why he had done it.

She glanced over at him as they walked towards the group of men that were now sitting in a row in front of the school. "Are you ok?"

Peter smiled and nodded. Stopping next to Okoye, he looked down at the six men. "Why are you here?" He knew why, he wanted to hear them say it. His question was met with silence.

MJ walked over to one of the men and crouched in front of him, studying his face. "You are Ba'Tunde's father?"

The man's eyes widened and he looked down, refusing to meet MJ's eyes. Peter glanced between the man and MJ trying to figure out how she had figured that out. Ba'Tunde was one of the boys from the village...a boy who's father had disappeared. It was hard to determine if he had left of his own free will or if he had been forced to leave. MJ stood and looked over at Peter. "Same facial features and identical eyes."

Peter smirked to himself. The things MJ picked up on never ceased to amaze him. He looked down at the man, then knelt in front of him. "You do know we're here to assist. That's it." The man refused to look up. Peter looked down the line at the rest of the men. "Anyone else from this particular village?" When another man looked down at the ground Peter stood up and looked over at Okoye. "What are you doing with them?"

"We will take them with us and see if we can gain any intelligence. After will depend very much on how they behave." Okoye nodded to the warriors that had accompanied her to take the men to their shuttle. "Your father and your friends will be here this afternoon. Would you like to come back to the city to meet them?"

Peter looked over at MJ. He was perfectly fine staying out here, but if she was ready to go back he'd go without hesitation. MJ shook her head. "We'll stay out here. Johnny, Bobby, Davis, Wyatt, and Jen were planning on staying out here with us so we can just stick to the original plan."

Okoye nodded. "If you require assistance, we will be near."

Peter watched Okoye retreat into a shuttle that had been previously cloaked. He turned to look at MJ. "Are you ok?"

"I don't like being locked in but I get it. If you have to worry about my safety you can't focus on what you need to do." MJ relaxed into the hug Peter had pulled her into. "The sun will be up soon. Let's start on the roof."

Peter smiled and released her. "You know, I could just make you armor." He had seriously thought about. Just something that she could trigger that would keep her safe.

MJ frowned. "I don't want armor." She had had multiple conversations with Pepper. Tony had made Pepper armor which she had no intention of ever wearing. She had told MJ how uncomfortable the Iron Man armor had been. MJ had no idea how Tony could stand to wear the earlier versions of the suit. She had also heard Peter complain about how inflexible the earlier Iron Spider versions were. The idea of wearing armor sounded horrible to her.

Peter just chuckled and retreated to the pile of roofing material.


	3. Chapter 3

Peter squinted as he looked up at the sky. He could hear the Quinjet's engines. He looked back down at the roof he was sitting on. He was pretty much done. Which meant the rest of the team could start working on the water filtration system. He stood up and flipped off the roof. MJ had asked him once why he insisted on flipping instead of just jumping off. The reality was that he just really liked flipping. It was kind of like free falling. He landed on the ground as the Quinjet appeared in the sky. It would be good to see everyone. After everything with Zeke they had spent a couple days at the compound but then Bobby and Davis had returned to Xavier Institute and Johnny and Wyatt had returned with Reed, Sue, and Ben. That was two weeks ago. Peter missed his team. But being able to decompress had been good for him and in order to do that, he needed the space. He knew they all understood.

The Quinjet landed in the same area the Wakandan shuttle had landed last night. Ramp lowered Johnny and Bobby were the first two down the ramp, followed in short order by Davis, Wyatt, Jen, Tony, Pepper, and Morgan. Tony looked at the completed school building and recognized it for what it was...Peter was too much like him. He watched the boys hug each other in turn then watched Morgan run full steam into her brother's arms. Pepper stopped next to Tony and looked at him. "Do we need to be concerned about the fact that he built a complete school in four days?"

Tony shrugged. "I'll let you know later on today." He hoped Peter was handling things. He had agreed for him and MJ to head over to Wakanda early because Tony had been completely aware of how stressed Peter had been. He also knew T'Challa would keep an eye on him. He and Pepper walked towards the group.

Wyatt stood back and looked at the building. "I can't believe you finished the school."

Peter shrugged. "It's not like it's that big. It's really just one big room."

Johnny leaned over as everyone else walked into the school building to check it out. "You good?"

Peter nodded. "I'm good. Decompressed. I'm glad you all are here though. It's good to see you."

"Good. Because you built an entire building. In four days." Johnny had often been accused of being self absorbed. After the accident that gave him his powers he had become a little more 'aware' of others. Sue had called it a rare opportunity for introspection.

Johnny had realized early on in their team formation that he was essentially Peter's second in command. Wyatt had never wanted leadership. It was the reason he had been at boarding school. He might grow into it one day but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Bobby and Davis might also get there one day but right now they were more than willing to follow Peter and to a certain level Johnny. They all instinctively looked to Peter for leadership. Initially it was because he had been doing it longer than they had plus he had the benefit of the Avengers. Johnny wasn't even sure if Peter was aware that he also had a natural ability to lead. Not just because he had experience but because there was something about Peter that made you want to follow him. He had heard Peter say more than once that he was simply leading by default so Johnny was pretty sure Peter had no idea. But, in the moments that needed action, Peter always acted. He was strategic in his plans which gave everyone the confidence they needed. Those times when Peter wasn't available Johnny had realized that the rest of the team was turning to him. So instead of shirking the responsibility Johnny found himself embracing it. Which meant that Johnny felt like it was his responsibility to also make sure Peter was ok.

Satisfied that Peter wasn't on the verge of some kind of breakdown he looked around the area. They had all seen the plans for the water filtration system. He knew there was a small river not too far away that the village used for water. The goal was to place an intermediary site that was tapped into the river that could be filtered. Overall, it wasn't too complicated. And it was something that with their particular skill sets, could be knocked out in a couple days.

The boys spread out into two other tents that T'Challa had provided. Tony and Pepper were planning to head back to Wakanda's capital city with Morgan. They planned on staying in Wakanda until MJ and Peter headed back at the end of the week and then they'd fly home together. Tony had come out to the village to specifically check on Peter. MJ had taken almost everybody into the village. Bobby and Davis had opted to get both of the tents set up so Tony had Peter to himself. "How are you doing kid?"

Peter shrugged. "T'Challa tell you about what happened last night?"

"Yes, but that's not what I'm talking about." After all this time Peter's first response was always the mission at hand...never himself. "How are you doing? You built a school by yourself in four days."

Peter looked at the building. It truly wasn't that big. "It helped. I feel better."

Tony studied Peter. Sometimes he enjoyed seeing glimpses of himself in his son. It was affirmation that he wasn't his father. This was not one of those times. But, there were worse ways to deal with stress. He knew because he had tried them all. Throwing yourself into a project did help. Tony knew that first hand. "Are you sure you're feeling better?"

"I'm fine Dad."

xxxxxxxxxx

Peter looked at the group seated in the middle of the three tents. He felt like a normal college student. He enjoyed those moments because they were few and far between but he wouldn't give up the other moments for anything. The moments of adrenaline fueled action punctuated by moments of brief panic. He truly loved those moments. It was part of who he was. He couldn't imagine himself without those moments. He looked over at Johnny who was sitting next to him. "You're telling me there's been no sign of Ross?"

"None." He looked over at Bobby. "I don't know how you lose a red, hulk-sized maniac."

"Hey...we had other priorities at the time. Plus, it's not like we knew it was Ross." Bobby looked over at Peter. They had pieced together that Ross must have been hit with gamma radiation when the lab exploded. All it took was Bobby relaying the message the red giant had given them for Peter to realize who it was.

"Are we assuming that Abomination probably hooked up with him?" Peter looked between them, smirking. He had already given everyone a hard time about letting Abomination get away. Davis was definitely giving him the look that said 'don't start'.

Johnny nodded. "Everyone has gotten the memo to keep their eyes open. I don't understand where two giant monsters can be hiding."

Peter shrugged. "Ross has deep resources. If he doesn't want to be found yet, he won't. I'm just worried about what he's planning with his new powers."

Jen looked at the group. She was trying to ease into this life. The life that was perfectly normal talking about gamma mutated villains because half the people you were sitting with were mutated themselves. It was still unnerving at times. "Hey, I though I heard Mr. Stark mention some of the people that are bringing teams over." She looked over at Peter and MJ. "Is Elon Musk really bringing a team over?"

MJ smiled. "Several teams. The guy is almost as amazing as Tony is." She had accompanied Pepper to some of the prep meetings for the initiative. Meeting Elon Musk had been a surreal experience but then she realized once again that she and Peter were no longer just kids from Queens. They were poised to take the reigns of a multi billion dollar tech company in a couple of years and she found that the idea humbled her beyond belief. "There are so many groups coming over that the initial timeframe has been cut in half. It's the trading between villages that's going to be hard to solidify. There's hope that the warlords start losing power without having to force confrontations but they're prepping for a worse case scenario."

Johnny glanced over at Peter. "Have you heard anything about the group from last night? Have they learned anything?"

"I haven't heard anything." Peter had mentioned to his dad that if T'Challa opted to act on any intelligence they received they wanted in on the op but he wasn't sure what if anything would actually come out of the intel. They'd just have to wait. Meanwhile they had a water filtration system to build


	4. Chapter 4

Peter and Johnny stood back and looked at the finished product. They hadn't tested it yet and they had tweaked the plans a little but they both were fairly confident they had a working filtered water station. Davis and Wyatt were getting ready to turn it on. They had a test kit that would allow them to sample the water and make sure everything bad was being filtered out. Peter let out the breath he had unconsciously been holding as water flowed from the spigot. It would take an hour or so for the analysis to come back. They were using Wakandan tech that Peter had to admit was actually better than what he and Tony could have come up with on their own. Having unlimited access to vibranium helped tremendously but Shuri was in herself amazing. He knew his dad was planning to spend a decent amount of time with Shuri while he was there. Peter had to keep pushing back the insecurity that kept trying to surface when he thought about the idea of his dad spending time in a lab with someone other than him. He knew it was ridiculous but nevertheless it was still there. He forced it back again and looked over at Johnny. "I think the changes actually worked better than the original blueprints. We'll need to update the plans that go out with other teams." They had made the change due to some terrain issues but the end result had actually been more efficient than the original.

Johnny nodded. "Wyatt and I will test run it again next week when Sue, Reed, and Ben get here." They were effectively making up team two. The village they were going to was a little more remote and perfect for Ben. He could work out in the open without the fear of discovery from a world that wasn't quite ready to deal with rock-like creatures. "Have you heard anything else from T'Challa?"

Peter shook his head. "Just that they should have all the intel they need today sometime and we can go in tonight." If the water test came back good then their work here was done. They'd all head back to the capital city and then the boys would head out tonight with the Wakanda team to deal with the warlord.

xxxxxxxxxx

Wyatt tightened the gauntlet around his wrist as he looked down at the map displayed in front of him. He glanced over at Nakia who was standing opposite of him. "Do you think they know we're coming?"

"They move around daily, never spending more than one night in any given location. This makes them overly confident that they cannot be found so I do not think so." She glanced around the room. "But even if they are, we have more than enough support." She looked back to Wyatt. "You are confident that you will be able to find their location?"

Wyatt nodded. Tracking was something he had always been good at. It was the one "old way" that didn't bother him - mainly because there really wasn't any kind of technology that could surpass it. Scanners could only take you so far. He looked around the room. The plan was fairly simple. Their team would track and when they found the encampment, the rest would come in for support.

Nakia's people had been able to get the general vicinity out of the group of men Peter had captured a couple days ago but they had not been able to locate the encampment in real time. They were always a day or two behind. So that's where they would start. The five of them could move much faster than an entire encampment. Wyatt was confident that they could follow their trail and overtake them within 24 hours. He looked over at Peter as he joined them.

"You're on point. Spidey sense isn't really going to help." Peter looked down at the map before meeting Wyatt's eyes. It wasn't a large distance they were going to have to cover but the terrain was going to be challenging. It was an area full of caves which is why they hadn't been able to pick anything up on scanners.

Wyatt laughed. "I'll take care of tracking them, you just watch out for the things that can eat us."

Peter smirked in response. "Deal."

xxxxxxxxxx

Bobby and Davis looked at Wyatt skeptically as he studied seemingly nothing on the ground. They had watched him for the last couple hours lead them through winding passages that Wyatt had generously called trails. They still couldn't figure out exactly what he was following. But it never failed that when one of them was about to ask if he was sure they were on the right path they all spotted a sign that the larger camp had come through previously.

Peter and Johnny trudged among dutifully, never questioning Wyatt's lead. Johnny had seen him trail something before and Peter had complete faith in Wyatt's abilities. Johnny glanced back at Peter as he ascended a steep ridge behind him. "You said the Avengers had taken down one of these warlords before?"

Peter took a sip of water while Wyatt studied a shadow on the ground. He could see what Wyatt was looking at, he just didn't know what it meant. "The mission went off fine. They were no match for us. I just wasn't prepared what what we walked into." He knew Johnny would expect him to explain the statement. "Most of these warlords are also in the business of human trafficking." He took another sip of water. "We all thought it was just alien tech enhanced weapons." He looked over at Johnny as Davis and Bobby topped the ridge behind them. "It wasn't. We walked into a one room building that had about 50 women and young girls in it. Horrible conditions and they had not been treated well."

Davis clapped Peter on the shoulder before twisting the top off of his own canteen. "Even more of a reason to take them down." He had watched how his father, and by extension his father's men had treated people over the years and he was intimately familiar with the idea that true monsters exist and that you can't always tell by the way they look on the outside. The worst monsters by far looked very much human because that's what they were.

Wyatt stood up and looked back at the team. "We're close. Maybe a couple miles further up." He glanced up at the setting sun. He was losing the ability to see the faint shadows cast by hoof prints and footprints and he didn't want to risk using a flashlight at night. But, from the map of this area there were very few places they could get to from this point and he had a fairly good idea where they went.

xxxxxxxxxx

Under the cover of darkness, the five boys studied the encampment below them. Wyatt had taken them up and around so they could see their targets from above. He camp was backed up against a mountain riddled with caves that more than likely connected to other caves. Cutting off an escape route would have to be their first objective.

Wyatt glanced over at Peter who had a Wakandan scanner in his had, mapping the area below them. He was marking targets that were being transmitted back to Wakanda and to the team that was being deployed.

Closing his hand around the device and securing it back in his pocket, the Iron Spider suit formed around him. Leaving the mask off for now, he glanced around at his team. "Here's the plan..."


	5. Chapter 5

Johnny lowered himself and dropped silently in the shadows of the cave opening. He watched Peter scamper down the wall and land lightly next to him. If he could have flamed up he could have made it down the rocky hillside without breaking a sweat. Instead, non-powered Johnny Storm had to maneuver himself down the old fashioned way. It wasn't the first time he wished his abilities transferred over without the flames and he was very thankful that Wyatt and Peter insisted they spend as much time in the gym as they did. It made the descent somewhat easier than it would have been a year ago.

Davis, Bobby, and Wyatt were creating a distraction on the other side of camp that should pull everyone out of the cave and allow Johnny to seal the it. Heated enough, the rock would melt and seal off the passageway. But, it wouldn't do any good unless everyone was out. So, they tucked themselves into a shadowy corner and waited.

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Tony looked at the map on his HUD. Peter had done a good job of painting the primary targets. The plan was solid, Tony just hated being this far away from Peter when the fireworks started. He fought the urge to increase power to the boot jets. If he got there sooner than he was supposed to Johnny wouldn't have time to seal the cave. So, he forced himself to match the speed of the Wakandan fighter next to him. They were two minutes out from the drop zone. If everything was going according to plan Wyatt, Bobby, and Davis would be moving into position and in the next sixty seconds Bobby would blow a weapons cache. There was a funny little quirk when you blended alien tech with normal tech...it got a little unstable when the temperature got too low. It was something he and Peter had discovered by accident one afternoon in the lab. It really wasn't a liability unless you were approaching zero Kelvin. And that never really happened outside of a lab, or if you happened to be around someone who could manipulate the temperature of particles.

He glanced up at the countdown on his HUD and noticed the familiar transponder beacons start to appear. They were getting within range of the encampment which meant the weapons cache should explode right about...

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Davis closed the portal behind the three boys as the weapons cache exploded behind them. He had only moved them out of range of the explosion, not out of range of the action. He could hear the chaos breaking out behind them and saw Wyatt situating himself to defend their position. Offense wasn't the mission right now, although if anything came their way they were all more than willing to engage. He slid behind the rock next to Wyatt and Bobby and looked up as a repulsor fired towards the encampment. Tony's timing was perfect.

The initial blast they caused was to get anyone in the cave out of the cave and allow Johnny to seal up the cave entrance. Tony's targets were designed to take out the remaining weapons cache as well as drive everyone into a contained area. T'Challa was dropping in with Wakandan fighters to subdue targets on the ground. Wyatt, Bobby, and Davis were responsible for making sure no one ran. Davis kinda hoped somebody ran.

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Peter and Johnny watched the group run out of the cave. Based on the intel T'Challa had, it looked like it most of the leadership of this particular group. Peter fought the urge to start flinging webs. He and Johnny could probably contain most of them. But not all of them. And the plan was for them to seal up the egress route, not capture. They waited for the group to make it far enough away before Johnny started working on melting the sides to start sealing the entrance. Peter looked back into the cave. "Karen, anyone else in there?"

"Peter, I'm picking up several more life forms."

Peter sighed, "Human life forms, right?"

"Yes."

Peter looked over at Johnny. "Keep sealing, I'll take care of whatever's in the cave." Peter started walking deeper into the cave. "Johnny, keep an eye on your six." He hated leaving Johnny on his own but they also didn't want to leave anyone in the cave."

"Peter, I got it. Just don't spend too long and make me come look for you."

Peter waved over his shoulder and continued into the cave. Karen was projecting the approximate location on his HUD so he followed the winding paths through the cave.

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Lighting flashed as a group of five landed in the middle of the encampment. The sonic bursts originating from the spears took out the combatants in the immediate area. The remaining waves realized who had landed in the middle of them. Some ran. T'Challa was confident that Wyatt and the other boys could contain them. Other fought. The Wakandans were more than a match for them. T'Challa slashed through the men who chose to face him with little regard for the outcome.

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Tony landed next to the cave opening. T'Challa had the fight under control and Bobby, Davis, and Wyatt had contained the ones that had tried to run. He stepped over some bodies on the ground that had obviously been stopped as they tried to escape through the caves. "Where's Peter?"

Johnny glanced over his shoulder as he melted a final piece of rock leaving an opening wide enough for a person. He had heard Tony land behind him. "Karen picked up life signs inside the cave."

Tony stepped through the opening. "Stay here." Knowing Johnny would comply he walked further into the cave, following Peter's transponder. It was moving in his direction which he hoped was a good sign. "FRIDAY, how many life signs are you picking up?"

"Eight plus Peter."

Tony picked up his pace.

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Peter felt the young girl clinging to his back shift slightly. He was glad she was able to hold on since both of his arms were currently occupied. He looked down at the older girl that had been unconscious when he found them. Eight girls. He guessed the oldest one was only seventeen or eighteen. His dad's voice came through his mask, the cave walls distorting the message. "Kid, you ok?"

"I'm bringing eight girls out. Let T'Challa know a couple of them need medical attention." The cave walls caused too much interference and he knew the message had come across as garbled. He looked over at the other six girls following him to make sure they were all still there. He saw his dad's transponder and knew he wasn't too far ahead in the tunnel.

After rounding two more turns Peter saw a glint of red metal. He realized the girl on his back had also caught sight of it because all the sudden she had a death grip on his neck. "It's ok. He's with me." His assurance did nothing to alleviate her fear as Iron Man came into view. He tensed as the younger girls let out a squeal and hid behind him. "It's ok," he assured again and looked over at his dad as he disengaged the Iron Man mask and helmet.

"It's ok. I'm with him." He reached over and took the girl from Peter's arms allowing Peter to readjust the girl on his back and scoop two others. Leading the way, he glanced back to make sure Peter had the rest of them in tow.

Stepping out into the moonlit night, Peter passed one of the girls off to Johnny. The fighting had subdued for the most part. He glanced down at the charred bodies littered around the cave entrance and felt a wave of guilt at the idea that he had left Johnny to fight them alone. He felt a gentle slap on the back of his head. He turned and looked at Johnny.

"You're an idiot." He shifted the girl on his hip and looked around at the other girls. "They are more important." He stepped over one of the bodies on the path as he followed Tony down the path. "That wasn't a problem," he added pointedly.

Peter grinned to himself as Johnny turned his attention to the girl he was carrying, putting a flame in his hand to act as a nightlight. Peter ushered the other girls in front of him, following them down the path. Karen had already let him know that Davis, Bobby, and Wyatt had not been hurt but he still let out a sigh of relief when he saw them.

Okoye walked over to Peter as he put one of the girls he was holding down. She looked at the girl still clinging to Peter's neck. "Come with me little one."

Peter felt the grasp around his neck relax but only a little. He smiled to himself knowing what the end result of this interaction was going to be. During the first mission to Wakanda he had been astonished at the fighting ability of the Dora Milaje. Any one of them probably could take him in a fight. Partially because his jaw dropped any time he saw them fight, but nonetheless they were still fierce. It was the other side that he found more remarkable though.

Okoye held one hand out to the little girl while the other one was firmly clasped around her spear. She was patient. She has done this more than once. Slowly, one little hand reached out and rested fingers in Okoye's hand. The other hand was still firmly gripped around Peter's neck.

Peter glanced back at the girl knowing she was staring at Okoye's spear. Most of these girls came from small villages and had never seen the likes of the Dora Milaje. Seeing these impossibly strong women after what the girls had undoubtedly experienced was mind blowing to them and it gave them hope. He felt the grip around his neck relax a little bit more as the girl slowly slipped down Peter's back and grasped Okoye's hand. Okoye nodded to Peter as she led the girl to where the other girls were being examined for injuries.

Peter walked over to his team. None of them looked worse for wear. He could hear the additional Wakandan shuttles approaching. The girls and wounded would be loaded first. T'Challa and some of the other warriors would load the prisoners in one. Peter, his team, and Tony would more than likely be in the last shuttle, along with any remaining warriors. It was a successful mission. One warlord down, multiple others to go.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is effectively the end of the original story I wrote (and reposted here). The next written material skips ahead to 2023. I may write some “in between” stories but I don’t have them completely fleshed out yet. I may just keep posting what’s already written and post anything new later. Just a heads up...


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